About Me

I am a lawyer in Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada who enjoys reading, especially mysteries. Since 2000 I have been writing personal book reviews. This blog includes my reviews, information on and interviews with authors and descriptions of mystery bookstores I have visited. I strive to review all Saskatchewan mysteries. Other Canadian mysteries are listed under the Rest of Canada. As a lawyer I am always interested in legal mysteries. I have a separate page for legal mysteries. Occasionally my reviews of legal mysteries comment on the legal reality of the mystery. You can follow the progression of my favourite authors with up to 15 reviews. Each year I select my favourites in "Bill's Best of ----". As well as current reviews I am posting reviews from 2000 to 2011. Below my most recent couple of posts are the posts of Saskatchewan mysteries I have reviewed alphabetically by author. If you only want a sentence or two description of the book and my recommendation when deciding whether to read the book look at the bold portion of the review. If you would like to email me the link to my email is on the profile page.

Monday, August 3, 2015

The (Ice) Berg Ships of Geoffrey Pyke

An illustration of the Berg aircraft carrier next to a conventional
aircraft carrier of WW II

Henry Hemming, in The
Ingenious Mr. Pyke, describes the incredible life of Geoffrey Pyke who led
an extraordinary life during the first half of the 20th Century. His
brilliant mind challenged conventional thinking in many areas including
education, public opinion polling and various military concepts.

During his lifetime he was most famous for his idea to
build huge ships of ice and wood during World War II. The British title for the
book is Churchill’s

Pyke’s idea had germinated from his efforts at considering
snow in Norway as a weapon against the Germans. Instead of an obstacle Pyke
asked how could snow be used to the Allies advantage.

As he turned his mind to the Battle of the Atlantic he
considered the major problem faced by the Allies in 1942 that they did not have
land based aircraft with enough range to cover an area in the middle of the
Atlantic. Airplanes that could be launched off aircraft carriers could not
effectively attack the submarines. German U-boats feasted on Allied shipping in
this strip of ocean.

Pyke was aware an occasional aircraft had landed on an
iceberg. What about a manmade form of iceberg to serve as an aircraft carrier
for bombers?

Building a ship out of ice was possible. Melting could be
greatly reduced by insulating with wood. However, ice is brittle and would
break up under the pressure of powerful Atlantic swells.

After reading an article that frozen sand could be harder
than rock and speaking to a professor who said wood pulp added to water made a
layer of ice stronger Pyke had the insight that made the project possible. He
asked scientists to mix water with sawdust or cork.

Some quick experiments determined that if wood pulp was
mixed with water and frozen the reinforced ice was stronger “than many
varieties of reinforced concrete”. Beyond being extremely strong it was
inexpensive to produce.

Just when I think I have heard of all significant WW II
stories that took place in Canada I am surprised. I was not aware that large
scale experiments were carried out on lakes on the edge of the Canadian
Rockies. Under great secrecy conscientious objectors, mainly young Mennonite
and Doukhobor men, worked in winter weather on the experiments.

Pyke, in English winter clothes, traveled to Western
Canada. He must have been a hardy soul to survive out here in such winter wear.

Those working on the project that Pyke should be honoured
and called the reinforced ice Pykrete using a variation of concrete.

Pykrete, just like icebergs, would not shatter but
absorbed shells fired. It meant ships of Pykrete would be almost unsinkable.

The design berg ships would be twice the length and width
of the Queen Mary. They would be long enough that full bombers could take off
and land on them.

The inventors worked out the ships would be encased in
wood that could easily be repaired. Interior pipes attached to refrigeration
units would keep the ice from melting.

While Churchill wanted his berg ships immediately and Mountbatten
was equally enthusiastic military bureaucracies were less excited and
development did not proceed as quickly as Pyke and his supporters wanted.

When other advances closed off the strip in the Atlantic
and the Battle of the Atlantic shifted to the Allied advantage there was no
longer the same impetus for berg ships.

The vast ships of ice and wood were never built but they
remain feasible should the cost of steel rise high.

There was one of Pyke’s innovative ideas that was
specifically used in the war. Codenamed “Pluto” it was the underwater pipeline
to deliver oil from England to France after D-Day in 1944.

It would have been amazing to see giant berg ships
crossing the oceans of the world.

2 comments:

Now, that's an ingenious idea, Bill. It's innovative thinkers like Pyke who can solve problems in ways no-one else would have imagined. Minds such as that are amazing. It would indeed have been amazing to see those berg ships...